Date Posted:07:46:56 04/15/05 Fri Author: Chris Subject: Re: passive/aggressive and overt/covert In reply to:
Nick T.
's message, "passive/aggressive and overt/covert" on 15:57:03 04/14/05 Thu
Just read the article that Nick mentioned, Dealing With Manipulative People (actually a chapter from the book "In Sheep's Clothing"). Wow! It summarizes so well the tactics used in UBF and other cults.
And I agree that UBF's type of maniplulation falls into the category of COVERT-AGGRESSIVE.
The following tactics described in the book is particularly typical for UBF (but also other tactics mentioned):
Guilt-tripping - This is one of the covert-aggressive's two favorite weapons (the other is shaming). It's a special kind of intimidation tactic. One thing that aggressive personalities know well is that other types of persons have very different consciences than they do. Manipulators are often skilled at using what they know to be the greater conscientiousness of their victims as a means of keeping them in a self-doubting, anxious, and submissive position. The more conscientious the potential victim, the more effective guilt is as a weapon. Aggressive personalities of all types use guilt-tripping so frequently and effectively as a manipulative tactic, that I believe it illustrates how fundamentally different in character they are compared to other (especially neurotic) personalities. All a manipulator has to do is suggest to the conscientious person that they don't care enough, are too selfish, etc., and that person immediately starts to feel bad. On the contrary, a conscientious person might try until they're blue in the face to get a manipulator (or any other aggressive personality to feel badly about a hurtful behavior, acknowledge responsibility, or admit wrongdoing, to absolutely no avail.
